"Gurgle..."
The arrogant laughter suddenly stopped. Lou Qianying's slender neck was firmly grasped by Yi Yuan. In great pain, the veins on her neck bulged, and her whole face instantly turned red. She couldn't utter a single sound.
The fear of impending death submerged her like a tide. Lou Qianying tried to pry open Yi Yuan's fingers, which were turning white from the force. But her hand and foot tendons had been severed, and she couldn't even lift her hands. Driven by the instinct to survive, she could only wriggle and struggle like a maggot.
"The antidote."
Yi Yuan's phoenix eyes were filled with boundless killing intent. His cold blood made him look like a wild beast in the wilderness, closely eyeing its prey.
"Uh... uh..."
Lou Qianying couldn't speak at all at this moment.
In his great anger, Yi Yuan didn't ease the pressure. She was being strangled so hard that her eyes were bloodshot, and she could only make broken sounds in her throat.
"A Yuan," Yun Xi quickly called out to stop Yi Yuan.
"I'll handle this. Let me finish questioning before you act."
The force on his hand paused. Yi Yuan finally regained some sense. With a slight exertion of his arm, he lifted Lou Qianying by the neck and threw her at Yun Xi's feet.
She landed just right, serving as a human footstool for Yun Xi.
Yun Xi slowly placed her foot on Lou Qianying's face and gently lifted the corner of her lips:
"How did you get out of the prison? Who is the person behind you? Where is the antidote for this poison?"
"You dare to step on my face! You slut... Ah—"
Even though she was on the verge of death, Lou Qianying still wanted to curse Yun Xi stubbornly.
But Yi Yuan, who had been suppressing his anger, neatly sliced off a large piece of her flesh with a knife. The pain made her body tremble. With a shrill scream, she instinctively shrank to the side.
"One dirty word, one piece of flesh." Yi Yuan's voice was completely devoid of warmth.
To Lou Qianying's ears, it was scarier than a ghost climbing out of hell.
The smile on Yun Xi's face grew wider. She half - closed her eyelids. Losing patience to ask again, she simply said one word:
"Speak."
Cold sweat beaded on Lou Qianying's forehead. She didn't dare to curse anymore. The deep - seated hatred and venom in her eyes almost materialized, like knives stabbing into Yun Xi's face. But she still refused to answer honestly. She just hoarsely said:
"Didn't you hear what the doctor said!? There's no antidote. This poison has no cure!"
[Still wanting an antidote? Dream on! Yi Zhen wants you dead. How could she give me something with an antidote!]
[What's the use of your arrogance now? It won't be long before you die more painfully and uglier than me!]
[Die! Die! I want you to go to hell and never be reborn...]
Yun Xi couldn't help but frown.
Yi Zhen's reach was too long.
Even after she had been sent to the nunnery, she could still find someone to take Lou Qianying out of the Supreme Court of Justice. She could also find an opportunity to get her into Yun's mansion, giving Lou Qianying a chance to act.
But it seemed that there really was no antidote.
Feeling that there was still something she hadn't thought of, Yun Xi pondered for a moment and asked:
"Did anyone help you get into the Yun family?"
[Help me? With Yi Zhen's methods, why would I need the help of the Yun family?]
[I just had to bribe a few stupid servants, and it was easy to sneak in.]
Thinking like this, what Lou Qianying said was:
"Of course."
"The old lady has been dissatisfied with Liu Jingyue for a long time. And Yun Yixiao, who is already married, wants your position. Naturally, they were eager to help me. Otherwise, how could I have sneaked into the Yun family so easily?"
"What did you say!?"
The faces of the Yun family members all changed, especially Yun Weisheng.
Shocked and wanting to step forward to ask in detail, he was stopped by Yun Xi:
"Father, don't be impatient. She's lying to you. No one in the Yun family was involved."
A look of surprise flashed across Lou Qianying's eyes. She didn't know that her little scheme had already been completely exposed. She still tried to sow discord:
"How can you be sure I'm lying to you? If there wasn't someone in the Yun family collaborating with me..."
Impatient to listen to Lou Qianying's nonsense, Yun Xi interrupted her firmly:
"Since your target was me, why did you also target A Ning?"
Suddenly stunned, Lou Qianying glanced at Yun Weisheng, who had been the most agitated just now. Seeing that the other party had regained his composure and seemed to blindly believe whatever Yun Xi said.
The hatred and jealousy in her heart grew stronger. Lou Qianying suddenly smiled sinisterly and said:
"Because... of you."
"There are so many powerful masters around you. I couldn't even get close to you. I had to find a way to make you come closer to me. Otherwise, how could I have a chance to act?"
Seeing Yun Xi's face change, Lou Qianying became happy. She said viciously:
"Jiang Ning had no one around her, so she was the easiest target. As your good sister, if I killed her, you would definitely investigate.
"I originally thought I would first go through the hands of the Yun family and the Prince Yu'an before I could get to you. I even thought up an excuse, saying that I would only reveal everything if I could see you. But who knew you were so stupid... Ah!!"
Lou Qianying was so carried away by her words that she forgot herself. Yi Yuan mercilessly sliced off another piece of her flesh, and she let out another shrill scream.
Biting her lips tightly, Lou Qianying's face turned deathly pale.
But she still tried to stab at Yun Xi's heart:
"Jiang Ning, Jiang Ning suffered this innocent disaster because of you.
"Even if I can't kill you, with her dead, you'll be trapped in pain and guilt for the rest of your life! Because you're the root cause! Ah—"
Yi Yuan didn't even lift his eyelids. His long, fair fingers moved nimbly. Along with the bright red blood, he sliced off several pieces of Lou Qianying's flesh with consecutive knife strikes.
"The one who insisted on killing Jiang Ning was you, and the one who did it was also you..."
His words were still as cold as ever. Yi Yuan took the brocade handkerchief handed by Mian Xiao and carefully wiped the blood off his hands:
"Don't spout all that nonsense about it being because of this or that.
"Xiao Xi has never been the root cause. She didn't do anything wrong. She was even trying her best to protect Jiang Ning. The evil ones are you. It's you who should be cut into a thousand pieces and feel guilty. Xiao Xi doesn't have to take the blame for your evil deeds."
"That's right!"
Yun Qi stood beside Yun Xi, glanced at Lou Qianying on the ground with disgust, and firmly said:
"There's no reason for bandits and robbers to blame the relatives of the victims for giving them silver after they kill and rob. Little sister has never done anything wrong. Don't try to shirk your responsibilities with such nonsense and affect little sister's life!"
Yun Weisheng and Liu Jingyue also tacitly stood beside Yun Xi, echoing and agreeing with Yun Qi and Yi Yuan's words.
Yun Xi's eyes grew moist.
A warm current welled up in her heart. She couldn't help but reach out and hold the hands of her lover and family members on both sides.
So this was how it felt to have people who firmly stood by her side, defended her, and immediately stood up for her when there were unreasonable accusations.
After calming her emotions, Yun Xi ignored Lou Qianying's unbelievable curses and hysterical denials in her heart and said:
"Lock her up first.
"I already know who the mastermind behind this is. Lou Qianying is now the most important witness to testify against her. We have to watch her carefully. Later, we'll write a confession for her to sign."
Pausing for a moment, Yun Xi scanned the people around her and slowly said:
"But there really is no antidote for this poison."